Strategic Partnership between SMS group and Houghton International

Plants and fluid technologies from a single source for efficient and ecological cold strip production

In December 2015, SMS group and Houghton International Inc., with head office in Pennsylvania, U.S.A., agreed their partnership for the development and marketing of oil-based cooling lubricants and emulsions for cold rolling mills. Both suppliers have joined forces in this partnership with a view to providing their joint customers with the added value obtained from a harmonized symbiosis of plant and fluid technology.

SMS group is a leading supplier worldwide of plants for the manufacture of steel, aluminum and non-ferrous metal products. Houghton International Inc., is a top-of-the-range supplier in the field of fluids and special chemicals for metal processing. The partnership between the two companies covers the common development and marketing of oil-based cooling lubricants and emulsions for steel­making. Under this partnership, SMS and Houghton will be pooling their research and development resources with a view to offering innovative cooling lubricant technologies to steelmakers.

“We are happy to have entered this partnership as it will enable SMS group and Houghton International to become even better at satisfying the ever more exacting demands of the market relating to product quality and productivity,” says Rüdiger Holz, Vice President at SMS group's Flat Rolling Plants Cold Rolling Mills Business Unit. “This partnership offers innovative solutions to our joint customers worldwide in the metal-producing industries.”

“We are most happy to be able to announce this exclusive partner­ship because both SMS and Houghton are leaders in the fields of rolling technology and fluids,” says Marcello Boldrini, President for Global Metals & Mining and Asia at Houghton. “We can now provide the worldwide manufacturers of steel and other metals with the only systems that integrate plant engineering and lubricant technology, thus allowing us to offer the most advanced integrated solutions to our customers.”

Houghton International

Since 1865, Houghton International Inc. has been serving the aluminum and steel industries as well as various other sectors, such as maritime oil extraction, metal processing and surface treatment, with the develop­ment and manufacture of special chemicals, oils and lubricants. With its head office in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., Houghton operates development and production facilities all over the world. Houghton International is aiming to expand its services to customers and its operating facilities worldwide

Fluid technology for cold strip production from a single source

Based on SMS Group information